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1 Orange County Commission for the Environment Meeting Summary April 13, 2015 Orange County Solid Waste Administration Building, Chapel Hill _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ PRESENT: Jan Sassaman (Chair), May Becker, Peter Cada, Tom Eisenhart, Lynne Gronback, Loren Hintz, David Neal, Bill Newby, Jeanette O’Connor, Rebecca Ray, Gary Saunders, Sheila Thomas, Lydia Wegman and David Welch ABSENT: Donna Lee Jones STAFF: Tom Davis, Rich Shaw, Brennan Bouma GUESTS: John Richardson, Jesse Freedman, Michael Harvey, Craig Benedict _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ I. Call to Order – Sassaman called the meeting to order at 7:34 pm. II. Ad ditions or Changes to Agenda – None. III. Minutes – Sassaman asked for comments on the March 9 meeting summary. Saunders motioned to approve as written; seconded by Welch. Approved unanimously. IV. Welcome New Member – Sassaman introduced Lynn Gronback, noting that the board of county commissioners had appointed her to the CFE in March. V. Chapel Hill’s Green Building Incentives – John Richardson (Planning Manager for Sustainability) and Jesse Freedman (Energy Management Specialist) presented an overview of the Town of Chapel Hill’s pilot program of providing financial incentives for sustainable (or “green building”) design. Richardson noted that this pilot program applies only for development within the Ephesus Church / Fordham Renewal District. Freedman said the Town’s objective is to incentivize developers to build high- performance buildings with better energy and water conservation performance than the 75th percentile of similar buildings. He noted that prior to this program the incentive was to build the worst energy and water efficient buildings allowed by law. Freedman described the Town’s process of choosing a green building standard for energy use from among many options, including LEED certification, Energy Star, 2030 Challenge, and others. The Town chose the Energy Star program, which the staff considers a neutral standard. The Town chose the State water performance standard. Freedman said the intent was to create standard that are rigorous and achievable. Freedman said in this pilot phase the financial incentive for builders is up to a 35% reduction in their development permit fees. He reviewed the benefits of green building versus conventional building in terms of energy use and water consumption. He noted the tendencies for higher rental rates (+ 2% – 17%), greater resale value (+ 5.8% - 35%), higher market value (+ 13.5%), and lower operating expenses (- 30%) for green buildings on average.